Dave Klein
Referenced in *White Jazz History White Jazz Dave Klein is LAPD lieutenant and lawyer who has connections to organized crime figures. After coming back from a raid and meeting with LAPD brass, including Ed Exley, he gets a call in his office from Mickey Cohen to get rid of one of the boxers being held as witnesses. Being assigned to guard the boxers, he finds out one of them. Reuben Ruiz, has connections to law enforcement figures. Taking that as a cue he throws the other one, Sanderline Johnson, out a window. Going back to talk to Exley and Gallaudet, they discuss Johnson's death and how Gallaudet wants to set up Mort Diskant, a political rival and puts forth Dudley Smith as possibly one to do it. Dave promptly puts forth using the idea of Fred Turentine as a bug man and Pete Bondurant to do it. After the meeting he goes and gives his sister Meg a dress, something he does every time he's killed a man. After thinking about his past he gets a call from Dan Wilhite to go to the house of JC Kafesjian where a burglary has occurred. In the process the dogs were killed, silverware stolen, and Kafesijan's daughter's pants have been soiled with semen. Despite Dave offering to help Kafesijan says he'll take care of it. Dave and Pete Bondurant work their set up job of Mort Diskant, ending as planned, and eventually leading to his dropping out of the race. When he goes to see Ed he is told the autopsy of Johnson was destroyed and now Dave and Stemmons were detached to the Kafesijan burglary case. Being assigned, him and Stemmons go to the scene of the crime and ask KC if he or his family had enemies to which he is refused. As Dave comes back to the house he sees both Madge and Lucille Kafesjian visibly distressed. Asking Pinker on his findings, he tells him due to the nature of the crimes he seems to be a clear case of revenge. While they're talking Stemmons and a rookie come over to tell them, while canvassing, they found a prowlwer was seen in the neighborhood. Going over to one of the cleaners he sees a Kafesijan associate, Abe Voldrich, who tells him despite having enemies they won't cooperate. Following the lead all he finds out is that Lucile would dance naked in her bedroom window when the family was out. And when he asked his snitch and checked records he found just as much, nothing. Upon Pete's recommendation, Dave is called in to the office of Howard Hughes for the purpose of tailing Glenda Bledsoe, a former contract actress of his. Through this process he finds out she's acting in a low budget horror film produced by Mickey Cohen. He also discovers she has to go on set up dates with her leading man, Rock Rockwell and that Rockwell, her, and Touch Vecchio are planning to fake a kidnapping. While he does all this he finds himself becoming enamored with her. Other than this Dave notes how Mickey's success has failed and he only has the Vecchio brothers as his muscle and a low rent movie. He notes some of the cast and crew including the director, Art Frizzel and a cameraman named Wylie Bullock. A number of homeless people work on the set as well. As far as the case is concerned he figures it as personal as well. While interrogating suspects for the main case and his pet project of Glenda Bledsoe he finds out the man who was meant to kidnap her liked to hurt women. Going to speak with him, George Ainge, him and Stemmons find out Glenda tricked for Dwight Gilette (also in L.A. Confidential) and was responsible for his murder. Going back to the case, questions people on if they recognized Lucile, getting very few leads but he learns Stemmons is asking around as well and was seen with Johnny Duhamel. In news we learn that Dudley's team is working a fur robbery and the perpetrators had technical knowledge. At Bob Gallaudet's victory Ed tells Dave to get the Kafesijan's tax records at any cost. Also his instinct tells him the prowler, B&E man, and peeper all are one man. Upon figuring this out, he calls University Station and tells them to go and do a trick sweep and get some john wagons. When questioning a man who is a janitor at the Red Arrow Inn Dave finds out the woman he's been looking for, Lucile, tricked at the hotel. Also she always asked for room 18, while the man who rented room 19 had planted a bug to spy on her and her johns. Hence he had to have a technical background. As a result as well he finds tapes. Further the motel owner tells him he saw her dancing in a fur coat at a club. It is discovered again that Stemmons questioned the hotel's owner and had had a number of peculiar coincidences such as he also was working Hollywood for a friend. After listening to the tapes he goes to the movie set and speaks with Touch, who tells him that Stemmons rousted him in Fern Dell and kept talking up Johnny Duhamel. Asking for Duhamel's background he finds out he did have a technical background and thinks perhaps he stole some of the furs for himself. At the end, to make out why he's going to all the trouble for Glenda, he goes and visits her. Listening to the tapes he discovered at Red Arrow he picks up johns and questions them. While doing so he, hearing all this information that Stemmons has been doing shakedowns in Fern Dell, he makes statements pointing the homosexual nature of the actions and the possibility of fur coat robberies being involved, to Stemmons' consternation. He also confirms she likes to talk dirty and she was sleeping with a man named Tommy. After work he breaks into Stemmons' house to which he finds pictures of Duhamel that confirms he's a homosexual. He thinks it odd as well that Duhamel never worked patrol. Also among the paperwork are a number of articles about Ed's case, which Dave can't figure out. Afterwards he learns that Jack Woods, who he had tail Stemmons, tells him that he had seen Stemmons meet with JC and Tommy at Bido Lito's. Dave goes and talks and sleeps with Glenda. Beforehand however she tells him how Sid Frizzell and Wylie Bullock, the movie's director and cameraman respectively are talking up a stag film. At a meeting of all department heads, where Narco is absent, he fgures Parker and Exley are going to sacrifice them to the investigation Noonnan is conducting. Also Dave wonders why the Kafesijan case is so important to Exley. Dave continues to wonder why the Kafesifan case is so important to Ed but puts his concerns aside when he is asked to lean on Tommy K. Telling Ed he think Lucile is the key he goes out to yet another motel where the peeper is staying and just as he finds the tape recorder the man returns and he gives chase. Yet in the process the man escapes and Welles Noonan and FBI men capture him, Noonan punching him for murdering Johnson. Calling Ray Pinker over to check for prints in the motel room they find nothing. Also having been asked by Dave to follow Stemmons Jack tells him he has shotguns and hypodermic needles in his car. Going to question Lester he hears that Dudley is rousting the Southside to provide quick resolutions to crimes and learns Tommy was sleeping with a girl, Tilly Hopewell, and was snitching fellow drug dealers who didn't pay. When asked about "Richie" he gets nothing. While continuing to investigate the room he finds a number of smut magazines that contain incestuous material, a magazine called Transom. He tells Jack to kill Stemmons. Glenda kills Miciak and Dave covers it up. Dave questions the man from Transom and finds out the writer of the articles had a P.O Box. Dave questions about Tommy's connection to the Knox murder and through the process he ask Tilly about names he had acquired and finds out Stemmons shook down a friend of hers. Back at the Station him and Dudley speak and he considers Duhamel as a possible Stemmons fur heist accomplice. Instead he saves Lester from Breuning and Carlisle to Dudley's delight. Going over the papers he discovered he finds them to be from a woman to her son, a son who is into jazz music and is estranged from the family. She makes allusions to two families having caused each the problems and that her husband gave her an STD, referring to the Dave found earlier where a man was recorded as needing a dose. After finishing reading the letters he goes to the escort service he heard about from Tilly where Lucile worked and confirms both the man and Lucille's identity as having been involved in the service. In the process he takes Glenda's file as well. Dave questions a former escort about Lucille and "Joseph Arden" and discovers he most likely isn't a criminal but the information supplied by her does line up with the letters previously discovered that, in this case, his wife attempted suicide. Having picked up one Patrick Orchard and Leroy Carpenter who separately tell him that Stemmons was going crazy and looking to become the drug kingpin of the Southside. He also learned he had mentioned a fur robbery and was seen speaking with Duhamel and also had been promised money by Steve Wenzel to purchase a large amount of heroin. Dave goes and questions Tilly about Junior and Steve Wenzel and learns Wenzel got spooked by Junior and wanted his money back. Wenzel also knew that Tommy was looking to kill him. While having this conversation Tilly also says Tommy was going crazy looking for this guy spying on his sister. When all is said and done Wenzel is killed by Tommy in a jazz club in front of Dave. Dave and Ed discuss the crime scene where Wenzel was killed and how Ed is going to quash it. Ed tells him to go to Wenzel's house to destroy any evidence implicating Stemmons and when he's there he finds out from Glenda that the stag film Frizell and Bullock are making is getting too gory and while he's sleeping is woken up by IAD men informing him Stemmons is dead. At the scene of Stemmons' death, a night club, he is found by what looks to be an OD. When he speaks with Ed once again he spills that there was a file on Exley and Duhamel in Stemmons' place. Asked to go there he checks the phone records and discovers some were to Duhamel and asking Gaduallet for Duhamel's personal file. Dave finds out from Bob that there isn't anything special about Johnny. Later he goes to the movie set and speaks with Chick about the state of the Kafesijan case and how it'd affect both Mickey and Ed. Going to see Duhamel Dave gets drugged, photographed, and he think murders him. Overall, it is unknown what happened. The FBI finds Dave in a disheveled state by a torched Bido Lito's in his car and takes him in for questioning. At the Federal building Abe Voldrich is also questioned and inconsistently takes the Fifth. After which Dave provides no assistance when they give no assistance locating the Richie he's looking for. Glenda and him talk about how he couldn't make it to see her like they had previously planned. Dave tries to put together what happened with Duhamel and if Stemmnons and him had a connection to the fur robbery by going to Duhamel's old place or what he thought was place. Not knowing who was involved if not the Kafesijans he goes to Pete to asks him to help in a muscle job on Chick who might've been involvement as well. Going on his way he hears a call come about an unidentified man found in a sewer in a mutilated state. Also he hears a call on a murder case on Arden Street, he rushes over. Reaching the crime scene he finds three bodies, two females and one male, the Herricks brutally murdered. The dogs are poisoned as well, like he Kafesijan case. Calling Ed he has IAD take over the case and accuses him and Duhamel of being dirty. Having been assigned the case he leaves but is arrested by Noonan and the FBI and told if he doesn't cooperate they'll press charges against Meg to which he agrees to be a friendly witness but needs not only access to Stemmons' deposit boxes but four days to clear up his affairs. In newspaper headings it's revealed victim, Philip Herrick had a chemistry background that sold chemicals to laundromats. Seeing this Dave looks into ant Herrick/Kafesijan connections and finds both men were from Scranton and worked in the same industry and their families lined up at the same time. Also he plans on coercing Chick, who Glenda says attitude has changed, because the point man to the mystery people who photographed him and killed Duhamel. Dave, with an FBI supervisor, goes to look at Stemmons' safe deposit box and finds info on Glenda and burns it. Along with that he finds out that Ed was found to be paying Duhamel under a different name. Dave finds out Ed was operating Duhamel. He had paid off his college loans, got him in the Academy and into undercover work in short order to attract Dudley, paid for the fur heist. He's also operating Mickey to an unknown end. Dave goes to see Jack Woods, where he figures out he killed Abe Voldrich. He also tries to figure why these men operating coin machines were getting clipped and can't figure it out since Mickey doesn't clip people any longer. On his way to see Pete he goes to the Observatory and see Frizell and Bullock and he figures they're working on something gory and remembers Joan Herrick's comment on the insanity of our two families. Dave and Pete go and strongarm Chick who tells them that Noonan was going to renege on his deal and go after Glenda. Dave learns that Carlisle had been at the storage facility and he finds out Breuning had a film editing background. He also finds out Dudley owned the Lynwood property and now it was Dudley vs. Exley. Ed explains Dudley to Dave (come back) Dave speaks to the tail men Ed gave him and explains their duties. At the end we learn the Kafejian men are mobile in their search for Richie Herrick. The men keep going but Lucille later goes out. In other places two men were found dead, men who worked Mickey's coin machines. Dave thinks Dudley was involved and Mickey announces he's a Fed witness. Lucile is seen at Ace Kwan's, where you buy heroin. Dave approaches Dudley who says he'll 50K for Chick and Breuning will bring the money. Tommy is seen yelling at Ace Kwan's. Dave thinks about how he'll turn Breuning and Glenda's current state of affairs. Going to the appointed location Dave and Breuning but not before Breuning pulls his gun Dave but getting himself killed by a third party. The other man takes a hostage but is killed. Dave asks Pete to have Fred get a tape recorder so as to question Chick with. Come back. Dave finds out Bob gave the movie to Noonan for his own political ends. Dudley also reveals Bob is dismembered and dead. Afterwards they find Lucille and Richie dead together of ODs. Upon talking to Dudley, Dave breaks into Ed's home and steals $600K, taking a knife with him. Going back to the motel he almost kills Chick and discovers Wylie Bullock was a Chino with Richie. Come back. Come back, Wylie killed Herricks. Dave, with Wylie in tow, comes to meet Dudley to give him the money they agreed on. While Dave and Dudley are struggling Wylie gets out, cleaver and attacks Dudley, slashing him from mouth to ear and later tearing out his eye. Going to shoot them he kills only Bullock. In the news we learn Dave's confession has been suppressed and that Dudley will be left with brain damage and partly paralyzed. Ed gets him a pension and says he'll be contained. Hiding out at Pete's ex-wife's place from a mob hit and the law Dave learns from Pete he can't get him a passport due to a hit being on his head. Also Pete tells Dave that Hughes found out about him and wants him give Dave a beating. Dave gets badly beaten, beyond recognition. Waking up in a hospital, Dave has, due to his beating, basically gotten a new face. His hair has gone gray, what's left. He also gets a package from Ed that provided a passport for what good it would do and a .38 revolver. The accompanying note said to kill Dudley, kill them. Dave goes to Glenda and they're together one last time. Before he leaves he takes a picture of her to keep to remember her by. Going to a hotel Dave types a new name in the passport he received, Edmund L. Smith. Dave goes and kills JC and shoot outs Tommy's eye. Going to the airport he leaves the US with no problem. We later learn, he's grown old in Brazil and is kept up with the status of various people by his sister but lastly we hear about Glenda and how she became a big star but he won't watch any of her movies because he wants to remember her as she was in that picture. Category:Characters from White Jazz Category:Bagmen